MY CHILDHOOD
By APJ Abdul Kalam
 |
| MY CHILDHOOD |
This chapter is an excerpt from APJ Abdul Kalam's autobiography
‘Wings of Fire.' It talks about his childhood, during which he received his
first wages. During this time, he faced and was able to resolve religious
prejudice with the help of those who were not like traditional people. His
science teacher inspired him to pursue higher education.
 |
| MY CHILDHOOD |
CHARACTERS:
Abdul Kalam: As a boy,
Abdul Kalam earned his first wages and faced religious discrimination.
Sivasubramania Iyer: Sivasubramania
Iyer was a science teacher who reformed his wife by setting an example.
Ramanandha Sastry: During
Kalam's childhood, Ramanandha Sastry was his close friend who was upset when he
was not able to sit next to Kalam in the class.
SUMMARY
Abdul
Kalam was born in a middle-class Muslim family in 1931 in the island town of
Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. His parents, teachers and friends influenced him
greatly during his childhood.
Jainulabdeen,
the father of Abdul Kalam, was not a very well educated but very kind and
polite person. He was not wealthy but provided a secure childhood to Abdul and
his brothers and sisters. Ashiamma was Abdul’s mother. Abdul inherited honesty and self-discipline
from his father and faith in goodness and deep kindness from his mother.
Abdul
earned his first wages by working as an assistant to his cousin, Samsuddin, who
circulated newspapers in Rameswaram. Abdul was just eight years old when the
Second World War broke out in 1939. There was a high demand for tamarind seeds
at that time. Abdul used to collect these and sell them in the market.
He had
three close friends during his childhood – Ramanandha Sastry, Aravindan and
Sivaprakashan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. Once
when he was in the fifth standard, a new teacher asked him not to sit in the
front row along with the high caste Brahmin boys. Abdul found Ramanandha Sastry
crying when he got up and went to the last row. This made a lasting impression
on Abdul. This matter was brought to the knowledge of Lakshmana Sastry
(Ramanandha Sastry’s father). He was the chief priest of the Rameswaram temple.
He told the teacher that he should not spread the poison of social inequality
and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children. The teacher
accepted his mistake.
On the
other hand, his science teacher Sivasubramania Iyer influenced Abdul heavily.
He was taught how to break down social barriers from him. Iyer invited him for
a meal at his home. His wife was an orthodox Brahmin who refused to serve food
to a Muslim boy in her so-called ‘ritually pure’ kitchen. Iyer served him with
his own hands and sat next to him to eat his meal. He persuaded his wife to
serve Abdul with her own hands next time he came and successfully changed his
wife's conservative attitude.
Abdul asked his father to leave Rameswaram and to study at the
district headquarters in Ramanathapuram. His father gladly allowed Abdul to
pursue his career. His father convinced his reluctant mother by quoting Khalil
Gibran, who had said that parents are a means for children to become
independent from them – they don’t belong to the parents themselves.
WORD MEANING:
Erstwhile – former.
Innate – in one’s nature.
Helpmate – wife.
Undistinguished – ordinary.
Austere – simple, strict and
severe.
Inessential – those which are not
necessary.
Princely sum – a large amount of money.
Anna – an old Indian coin,
worth about six paise.
Dinamani – the local Tamil
newspaper.
Allied Forces – the armies of UK, USA,
and USSR during the Second World War.
Suspension – temporary cancellation.
Slot – vacancy.
Surge of pride – satisfaction.
Figures of authority –
powerful people.
Orthodox – traditional.
Priesthood – job of a priest.
Sacred thread – religious thread worn
by Hindus.
Could not stomach – could not
tolerate.
Downcast – sad or depressed.
Communal intolerance – not tolerating
another community.
Bluntly – directly.
Segregation – separation.
Mingle – gather together.
On par with – equal to.
Perturbed – disturbed.
Confronted – faced.
Imminent – about to take place.
Unprecedented – ever seen before.
I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each.
1. Where was
Abdul Kalam’s house?
Answer: The house of Abdul Kalam was in Rameswaram's Mosque Street. It was a relatively big pucca house of brick and limestone.
2. What do
you think Dinamani is the name of?
Give a reason for your answer.
Answer: The
fact that Abdul Kalam used to read headlines about World War II and the
fact that he helped his cousin in collecting newspaper bundles thrown from the
train indicate that Dinamani is the name of a daily newspaper.
3. Who were Abdul Kalam’s school friends? What did they later
become?
Answer: The
friends of Abdul Kalam were Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakashan. One
of his friends Ramanadha Sastry became a priest at Rameshwaram. Another friend
Aravindan went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims.
The third friend Sivaprakashan became a catering contractor for the Southern
Railway.
4. How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?
Answer: When stoppage of trains was suspended at Rameswaram
because of the World War, his cousin requested to help him in collecting
newspaper bundles which were thrown from the moving train. This task helped
Abdul Kalam earn his first wages.
5. Had he earned any money before that? In what way?
Answer: Before the newspaper episode, there was suddenly an unusual huge demand for tamarind seeds in the market. Abdul Kalam used to collect tamarind seeds and sell the day’s collection to a provision shop for one anna every day.
II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph.
1. How does the author describe: (I) his father (II) his mother
(III) himself.
Answer: (I) The author has described his father as a man who
practised austerity but gave due consideration to all needs of his family.
(II) He described his mother as a kind and gracious woman who
used to feed anyone visiting the household.
(III) Abdul Kalam has described himself as a short and thin boy
descended from tall and handsome parents.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
1. Where was Abdul Kalam born?
Answer: He was born in the
town of Rameswaram.
3. Where was Abdul Kalam’s house located in
Rameswaram?
Answer: His house was
located in the Mosque street in Rameswaram.
9. When did the Second World War break out?
Answer: The Second World
War broke out in 1939.
10. What did the new teacher in 5th standard ask
Abdul Kalam to do?
Answer: The new teacher
asked him to sit on the last bench.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. What was the reaction of Abdul Kalam’s father when he wanted to leave
home? What was his mother’s reaction?
Answer: Abdul Katam’s
father gave him his permission gladly. But his mother was a little worried. At
this, his father told her that a child is like a seagull. One day, he has
to learn to fly alone like the seagull. This cleared the doubts of his mother.
2. What was Sivasuhramania lyer’s wife reaction when she came to know
that a Muslim boy was invited to have a meal with them by her husband?
Answer: Sivasubramania
lyer’s still life was horrified to know this. She refused to serve food to a
Muslim boy in her ritually pure kitchen. But the teacher was not perturbed at
this. He served Kalam with his.
3. What made Sivasubramania tier’s wife change his mind?Answer: Sivasubramania lyer’s wife watched Kalam having his man from behind the kitchen door. She did not find any difference in the way he took his meal ‘fins made her change her mind. On his next visit to the teacher’s house, she took Kalin inside the kitchen. She served him food with her own hands.
4. How did
Lakshmana Sastry reform the young teacher?
Answer: Lakshmana Sastry was Ramanadha
Sastry’s father. When he came to know that the young teacher had shifted Kahan
to the last row he got very angry. He summoned the teacher. He told the teacher
that he should not spread the poison of social inequality and communal
intolerance in the minds of innocent children. He asked him either to apologize
or quit school. Thus the teacher regretted and he was reformed.
5. What kind of
a person was Kalam’s father?
Answer: Tall and handsome, Kalam’s
father – Jainulabdeen, did not have much of formal education. He didn’t even
have much wealth. However, he was a very practical man with a vast store of
wisdom. He was generous and never obstructed the progressive ways of his
children. As a responsible head of the family, he provided both material and
emotional security.
6. How was
Kalam’s mother ideal support to her husband?
Answer: Kalam’s mother, Ashiamma, was ideal
support to her husband. She was a picture of goodness and deep kindness. She
was tall, good looking and very attached to her children. Like her husband, she
was very generous and fed a number of outsiders daily. Kalam inherited the
values of kindness and generosity from her.
7. What did Kalam look like as a young child?
Answer: Kalam did not take after his tall and handsome parents. He was a rather short boy with average looks. With ordinary looks unlike that of his parents who had quite striking features, his appearance was undistinguished.
8. Where was Abdul Kalam’s house situated?
Answer: Abdul Kalam’s house
was situated on Mosque Street in Rameswaram. This was his ancestral house and
had been built in the middle of the nineteenth century. It was a fairly large,
pucca house made of limestone and brick.
9. Why does Kalam say he had a secure childhood, both materially and
emotionally?
Answer: Though not very
well off, Kalam’s father made sure that he provided his family with all the
necessities in terms of food, medicine and clothes. Apart from this, Kalam got
all the love and parental guidance from them during his childhood. That is why
he says that he had a very secure childhood both materially and emotionally.
10. How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?
Answer: Abdul Kalam earned
his first wages by catching bundles of newspapers from moving trains for his
cousin Shamsuddin who used to distribute newspapers in Rameswaram. During the
Second World War, the train halt at Rameswaram station was suspended, so
bundles of newspapers were thrown off moving trains and had to be collected.
11. Why did the demand for tamarind seeds increase suddenly? How did it
help Kalam?
Answer: When the Second
World War broke out in 1939, there was a sudden demand for tamarind seeds in
the market. Kalam collected these seeds and sold them to earn an anna which was
a big amount in those days for a small boy like him.
12. Right from
his childhood Kalam was very enterprising. Discuss.
Answer: Kalam was an
enterprising child who used to make full use of the opportunities that came his
way. During the war, when there occurred a great demand for tamarind seeds in
the market, he used to collect these seeds and sell them off to a provision
shop. Thus, he was able to earn some money for himself. The incident shows that
he was very enterprising.
13. What do you think Dinamani is the name of? Give a
reason for your answer.
Answer: Dinamani seems to be
the name of a newspaper. Kalam mentions that he gathered information about the
world war from his brother-in-law Jallaluddin. Later he tried to trace these
stories in the headlines of Dinamani. Headlines are titles of news
items, so Dinamani must be a newspaper.
14. What characteristics does Kalam say he inherited from his parents?
Answer: Kalam inherited
honesty and self-discipline from his father and faith in goodness and deep
kindness from his mother. His socio-economic and emotional environment trained
him as well as his three brothers and sister to acquire these characteristics.
15. Who were Kalam’s school friends? What did they become later?
Answer: Kalam’s three close
childhood friends were Ramanad Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. All three of
them settled well in life. Ramanadha inherited the priesthood of Rameswaram temple
from his father, Aravindan took up the business of arranging transport for
visiting pilgrims and Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the
Southern Railways.
0 comments:
Post a Comment